Proverbs | Humilty vs Pride (March 7th, 2021) - Mike Armstrong

All right, Bibles.

Grab them, turn them to Proverbs chapter 11, Proverbs 11.

Proverbs 11 · chapter mention

Right?

We've been talking about wisdom in this series.

This is kind of the key, the key book, I guess, that you would go to in the Old Testament when we think about wisdom.

We've been building up our understanding of what wisdom is and how to actually obtain more of it.

How do I grab hold of wisdom?

How do I get more of it in my life?

Now I want to I think when we first start to think about what wisdom is, often what comes to mind for us is somebody who has a lot of knowledge, right?

And somebody who seems to have the answers.

Like a wise old sage is what we think about.

Maybe even think of somebody who is older and has the experience, you know, and wisdom comes along with that.

Somebody who is able to counsel, again, and give good direction to uh your life.

Now, while all of that is certainly part of the equation as to what wisdom is, it's it's definitely not the whole thing.

Okay, wisdom involves, as we've talked about, uh fear of the Lord.

Remember, that was the very first message we looked at from uh Proverbs uh 1, verse 7.

We've got to fear the Lord.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, beginning of wisdom.

Okay, we we talked about how to be wise requires this recognition that wisdom is something that I'm gonna need tons of in this life.

There's so many different curveballs that life throws at me, and I don't really know how to proceed, and I don't know how to handle myself, and and and I don't know how to help this other person.

And so wisdom is something I'm gonna need.

We need to value it highly, we need to pursue it and be dogged in our determination of that.

On top of all of this, wisdom demands, as we looked at last Sunday, the that we be resisting that that allure of folly and foolishness.

I don't think any of us would say that anybody who is constantly falling into the trap of foolishness is a wise person.

We've got to be resisting that.

We've got to be staying away from that.

A wise person certainly does.

Okay, well, another word, another topic that we're gonna look at here uh today, it goes hand in hand with wisdom is humility.

Okay, it's humility.

And so um here's our our big idea today as we talk through this.

Maybe I'll write this down uh somewhere.

Write this down.

It says the wisdom that I possess is directly related to the measure of my humility.

I know you can read it up there, but let me say it again.

The wisdom that I possess is directly related to the measure of my humility.

Okay, so in other words, okay, without genuine humility, I will not be truly wise.

Okay, does that make sense?

I think we see this here uh in a number of places in uh the Proverbs.

The verse that we're gonna look at today comes from Proverbs 11, verse 2.

Proverbs 11:2

So hopefully you're you're already there, you found the verse.

Uh follow along with me as we go through this a little bit here.

It says this when pride comes, then comes disgrace.

Okay, then comes disgrace.

So before we can get to what humility is, we're gonna look at the other side of the coin, the other side of the spectrum, end of the spectrum, and that is is pride, the opposite of humility.

Okay, lots of verses in the Proverbs uh talk about pride.

Proverbs 16, 18 is one that you've probably heard before.

It says, pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit or an arrogant spirit before a fall.

Alright, so uh pride, if you want kind of a just a basic definition of what pride is, pride is essentially insisting on your own way.

Right?

Pride is insisting on your own way.

That's why pride is the root of any and all sins.

Okay, any sin that you can think of, any sin that you can name, any sin that you have engaged in has pride at the very heart of it, at the very uh root of it.

Right?

Anytime you sin in whatever way that might be for you, whatever your temptations are, that is essentially you saying, uh, no, Lord, I am not going to do things your way.

I am not going to follow you, I am going to do things the way I want to do them.

I am going to pursue what I want, what I selfishly desire in my flesh.

Okay, so it's it's pride here that that drives us to the various forms of foolishness or folly and results in, as these verses show us here, the the disgrace or or the or the destruction that ultimately uh ensues.

Okay, now all of that said, okay, thankfully, there is another way for us.

There's another pathway forward by God's grace.

Here's what the rest of our verse says, 11 verse 2.

It says, but, okay, great transition word there, but with the humble is wisdom.

Okay, again, showing us that the truly wise person is the one who is uh humble, right?

The one who has humility.

Now, uh a lot of thought out there in the world about uh what humility really is.

And I think the the common thought process out there is that humility is simply a way to act or or kind of carry yourself, right?

In a way that's that's not outwardly cocky or or you're not full of arrogance and that seeping out of you, and and and or in a way where you're just clamoring for people's attention and and and look at me, right?

Maybe maybe people in the world would think that humility is more the quiet person, right?

The person who doesn't speak up too much, the the person who is maybe a little bit more shy and reserved.

And while some of those things might be some components of real humility, biblical humility, I think we also know this too, that the more quiet and shy personalities who don't flaunt an outward kind of cockiness or arrogance, those people can still be incredibly proud.

Sometimes uh a shy person is, you know, inwardly, they're just constantly looking at other people and and and sizing them up and feeling like I'm not as smart as them, or I'm not as good looking as them, or I'm not as well off as them, and so I am going, I I feel a little bit mousy here.

Well, how is that how is that pride?

Well, it's the pride of just still being super self-focused.

You're still thinking about yourself, you're focused on yourself.

You just don't like, you just don't happen to like what you see or what you feel.

Okay, and so I think that is a bit of an understanding of how the world kind of looks at this idea of humility.

And we know that humility isn't just like an outward behavior thing, it's not simply a personality type kind of thing.

It's not simply deciding to be humble, as you'll see written on signs and slogans on t-shirts and all of that.

I've heard it said before that the Bible never tells us to be humble.

Just be more humble, man.

Just try and make that happen for you.

The Bible doesn't tell us that.

Rather, it tells us only to humble ourselves.

Right?

Humble yourself is 1 Peter 5, verse 6.

1 Peter 5:6

Okay, so humility comes when we when we recognize the the arrogance, the the the pride that is in our stubborn hearts and in our flesh, when we recognize all of that before God and bow our hearts and confess those things in submission and surrender to uh the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Right?

That is where humility starts to take root.

That's humility, and that is wisdom.

Right?

That is wisdom of knowing your place uh before God, which I think really gets us to this.

I I stumbled across this this past week by John Piper, and I thought I would, you know, put it before you because I think there's some good things for us to think about here.

And he kind of points out five truths that God tells us about humility.

Okay, and so you can follow along with this.

The first one is kind of what we just said.

Humility begins with a sense of subordination to God in Christ.

That's the start of humility right there, a sense of subordination, recognizing that God is great and we have have sinned against him, right?

That we are broken and that we are needy.

I mean, this is really the essence of our salvation, is it not?

The essence of the gospel.

Right?

You get saved when you realize, oh my goodness, God exists, right?

And he is great and awesome and and holy and and loving and yet deals with sin, right, and and hates sin.

Oh, that's that's a problem for me because I have sinned.

Right?

I've sinned many, many times, and and that puts me at odds with God.

And so the gospel tells us that God deals with sin and that wrath exists against sin from God.

That is pointed at you and I.

But as we think about the gospel and recognize it, we also see the love of God, right?

And we see that he sent his son Jesus Christ to take care of that massive problem of sin for us.

Jesus Christ lived the perfect life that you and I never could, never will.

He lived that perfectly.

He followed God's law, all of God's commands, flawlessly.

He was holy.

And then though he didn't deserve it, he was the only person ever who existed who did not deserve to die, he did it anyways, and he chose to die on the cross and sacrificed himself for you and I.

He died the death that was meant for you and I, that we deserved.

And so humility is when we recognize our state before God and we humble ourselves and confess our sin and welcome the salvation that God offers us through his son, Jesus Christ.

I mean, that humble is to be the that's our hearts as believers.

Right?

You think about how it just doesn't make sense to humble yourself for a moment and get saved and then live as people full of pride after that.

Right?

That would suggest that maybe we didn't really understand the gospel and salvation in the first place.

But also understanding that that that pride is there and the process of sanctification as the Holy Spirit renews us, he's working to root that pride out of us and replace it with humility.

Okay, so that that sense of subordination to God in Christ is so key.

Again, I referenced it already, but 1 Peter 5, 6 humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

How about the second truth about humility?

Humility does not feel a right to better treatment than Christ got.

That one was a dagger for me this week as I was thinking about that.

You know, even think about the pandemic and you think about the restrictions and our rights being infringed upon.

I mean, it's absolutely happened, right?

It really has.

But at the same time, do we deserve better?

We really don't.

Lots to chew on there, but Matthew 10, verse 25, it says, if they have called the master of the house, that's referring to Jesus, if they've called him Beelzebel, how much more will they malign those of his household?

Matthew 10:25

We're gonna go through that.

We do not deserve better treatment than we're getting.

How about the third truth about humility?

Humility asserts truth, okay, speaks truth, not to bolster ego with control or with triumphs in a debate with somebody, but in service to Christ and love to the adversary.

A lot of believers, I think, need to consider this when we think about how we handle ourselves in social media.

Right?

Trying to constantly zing people and win arguments and show how smart we are and all of that.

That's that's not humility.

Okay, 1 Corinthians 13, verse 6 says, Love rejoices with the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:6

Like a holy rejoicing, not a yeah, I got him.

I win the argument.

That's not that.

How about this about humility?

Humility knows it is dependent on grace for all knowing and believing.

Any wisdom that you have, any any biblical knowledge that you have, it's been given to you by grace.

Uh we need to stop taking credit for that.

We we depend on grace for again, it says all knowing and all believing.

Your salvation is a gift of grace.

You didn't earn it.

God didn't look at you and say, Wow, that person is better than the rest.

Not at all.

He gives you salvation by grace.

Okay, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7 says, For who sees anything different in you, what do you have that you did not receive?

1 Corinthians 4:7

If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Why do we boast about the gifts that God has given us?

It's so backwards, isn't it?

And then this final one here humility knows it is fallible, meaning prone to error.

Humility knows it's fallible, and so considers criticism and learns from it.

Are you open to correction?

If you're humble, you are.

Because you know you're not perfect.

You know your humility is not perfect.

And so you'll learn from that.

Proverbs 12, 15 says the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Listen, as you think about those five things, do you see those in your life?

Do you see those things growing in your heart, in your soul, in the way that you conduct yourself?

It's real, it's not just an act you're putting on, but it's coming from a changed and transformed heart.

And again, let me just ask you this.

Are we a humble people?

And you know, we were six years into this now, right?

Praise God.

Are we a more humble people now, a more humble church now than we were uh when we first started?

I mean, I recognize that not everybody was here uh since the beginning of all of that, but if you think about yourself, are are are you one who is, you know, pride is is is maybe slowly but surely and maybe more rapidly at times winning as you surrender yourself to the Lord?

Are we known as a church full of humble people?

Do we bow our hearts and surrender our pride when we consider the Lord, when we consider his goodness to us, we consider all that he has done.

Because only then are we truly wise.

And so listen, as we have been doing here over the last number of weeks, we're gonna go to prayer about these things.

And I think lots, if you're like me, lots that you're like, man, I need to just pray.

Can we just get to that?

There's lots of pride issues that I need to surrender to the Lord and confess, and and so just uh you know a little bit of instruction as to what this will look like here.

I know oftentimes we've kind of moved in groups and stuff like that.

I I think this is just the topic of this.

I think we want to encourage you to just kind of pray on your own.

You know, pray silently if you want to gather with your family or our husbands and wives and pray together if you sense that that that's what uh what the Lord is leading, that's totally fine.

This is a great time to confess some of that pride that's been there that we've been unwilling to maybe deal with and ask and cry out, Lord, would you create a humility in me as I consider you, as I consider the gospel, as I consider what you have done and what you have called me to.

And so we're gonna take the next couple of minutes uh and do that.

We're gonna have our Zoom prayer time at uh 11 a.m.

For those of you who are at home, we encourage you to join us in that.

Our newest elder, Dave Grant, is gonna be leading uh that time together.

And of course, I want to remind you that following the service uh is step one.

And so as that is happening, uh, we would love to have you come and join that.

So, again, final things here, and then I'm gonna pray.

As you're praying and as that time comes to an end for you, we just ask that you would quietly uh leave this room and make your way out and leave this as a as a as a prayerful, kind of quiet place where people can get right with the Lord.

I know John is gonna be playing uh some music uh as we do uh all of that, but so uh looking forward to this time in prayer.

I want to close in prayer now and then allow you to get at it.

So, Lord, let's pray.

Lord, we do thank you uh for this time together.

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity we've had to uh install uh Dave as an elder here, Lord.

Use him mightily.

Lord, as we think about uh this idea of humility and how that is inextricably tied to the wisdom that we will have, uh God, would you do a work?

Lord, whatever barriers are in the way of us truly confessing these things and truly repenting of these things, Lord, would you would you so in your love and your kindness work to break those down?

Lord, to bring down our idols, Lord, would you give us a joy and a passion for humility for you, Lord?

As we are filled with joy for you, we will be more humble, Lord.

We will grow in humility.

We will love you and we will love others.

And so, Lord, as we pray through these prayer points and spend this next time with you, Lord, would you hear our cries?

Lord, we thank you for six years as a church.

We pray for many, many more of your goodness, your faithfulness, your glory.

All these things we pray in Christ's name.

Amen.